Printing Scanned PDFs Correctly: Paper Size, Scaling and Margins

Why scans sometimes print too small, cut off or off-centre, and how to check paper size, scaling and orientation before you hit print.

You scan a form, send it to the printer, and the result is shrunken, cropped or lopsided. Printing scans is usually straightforward once you understand the few settings that matter.

Paper sizes: A4 and Letter

Two paper sizes dominate:

A4: 210 × 297 mm, used in most of the world.
US Letter: 8.5 × 11 inches (about 216 × 279 mm), used in the United States, Canada and a few other places.

They're similar but not identical. A4 is slightly narrower and taller. If a scan is made as A4 and printed on Letter, or the reverse, the printer must scale it, or it may cut off the edges.

Match the scan to the paper

If you know you'll print on a certain size, set your scanner app's page size to match, where it offers the option. Otherwise, use the printer's scaling settings.

Scaling options in the print dialog

Fit to page (or shrink to fit): scales the page to fit within the printable area. Safe for most uses, but leaves margins and slightly reduces size.
Actual size (100 percent): prints exactly as scanned. If the paper size differs, edges may be cut.
Fill page: enlarges until the page is filled, which can crop edges.

For forms and documents that must stay readable and complete, choose "fit to page".

Margins

Most printers cannot print right to the edge of the paper. If your scan has content close to the border, the printer may trim it. Give scanned pages a small margin when possible.

Orientation

Check portrait or landscape in the print preview. If the page prints sideways, rotate it in the scanning app or choose auto-rotate in the print dialog.

Black and white or colour

For text documents, print in black and white to save ink. For documents with colour that matters, such as ID copies for certain purposes, print in colour. Note that some organisations require colour copies.

Print quality

Choose "normal" for everyday documents and "high" for photos and fine detail. Draft mode saves ink but can make small text hard to read.

Double-sided printing

If your document has front and back pages, decide whether you want each on its own sheet or printed double-sided. For legal documents, check whether single-sided is required.

Always preview

Before you print, look at the preview. Check that:

The whole page is visible.
The orientation is correct.
The scale looks right.
All pages are in order.

When a form must be exact

Some official forms ask that you print at 100 percent scale, to keep measurements accurate, such as for photo sizes or barcodes. Follow the instructions.

Printing from a phone

Phones can print to most modern wireless printers. The steps are similar: open the PDF, choose print, check the preview, and confirm the settings.

Checklist

Paper size matches or scaling set to fit.
Orientation checked.
Margins allow for printer limits.
Preview reviewed before printing.

Create print-ready PDFs with Document Scanner →